Memory devices provide data storage for electronic systems.
One type of memory is a non-volatile memory known as flash memory. A flash memory is a type of EEPROM (electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory) that may be erased and reprogrammed in blocks. Many modern personal computers have BIOS stored on a flash memory chip. Such a BIOS is sometimes called a flash BIOS. Flash memory is also popular in wireless electronic devices because it enables the manufacturer to support new communication protocols as they become standardized, and to provide the ability to remotely upgrade the device for enhanced features.
A typical flash memory comprises a memory array that includes a large number of memory cells arranged in row and column fashion. Each of the memory cells includes a floating gate field effect transistor capable of holding a charge. The cells are usually grouped into blocks. Each of the cells within a block may be electrically programmed by charging the floating gate. The charge may be removed from the floating gate by a block erase operation. The data in a cell is determined by the presence or absence of the charge in the floating gate.
NAND is a basic architecture of flash memory. A NAND cell unit comprises a select gate coupled in series to a serial combination of memory cells (with the serial combination being commonly referred to as a NAND string). One of the memory cells of the NAND string will be nearer the select gate than all of the other memory cells of the NAND string, and such memory cell may be referred to as a first memory cell. There may be advantages to forming the first memory cell of the NAND string to have a different dimension than other memory cells of the NAND string. A Samsung 4 GB SLC (single level cell) NAND flash utilizes a construction in which the first memory cell is wider, in at least one cross-sectional view, than other memory cells of the NAND string so that the first memory cell has a longer channel length than other memory cells of the NAND string.